Chapter Three: Retraining the Mind

VII. The Loss of Certainty

51 We said before that the
abilities which man possesses are only shadows of his real strengths
and that the intrusion of the ability to perceive, which is
inherently judgmental, was introduced only after the
separation. No one has been sure of anything since. You will also
remember, however, that I made it clear that the resurrection was the
means for the return to knowledge, which was accomplished by
the union of my will with the Father's. We can now make a
distinction which will greatly facilitate clarity in our subsequent
statements.

52 Since the separation, the
words "create" and "make" have been greatly
confused. When you make something, you make it out of a sense of lack
or need. Anything that is made is made for a specific purpose and has
no true generalizability. When you make something to fill a perceived
lack, which is obviously why you would want to make anything, you are
tacitly implying that you believe in separation. Knowing, as we have
frequently observed, does not lead to doing at all.

53 The confusion between your
own creation and what you create is so profound that it has
become literally impossible for you to know anything. Knowledge is
always stable, and it is quite evident that human beings are not.
Nevertheless, they are perfectly stable as God created them.
In this sense, when their behavior is unstable they are
disagreeing with God's idea of the creation. Man can do
this if he chooses, but he would hardly want to do it if he
were in his right mind. The problem that bothers you most is the
fundamental question which man continually asks of himself, but which
cannot properly be directed to himself at all. He keeps asking
himself what he is. This implies that the answer is not only
one which he knows but is also one which is up to him to supply.

54 Man cannot perceive
himself correctly. He has no image. The word "image"
is always perception-related and not a product of knowing.
Images are symbolic and stand for something else. The current
emphasis on "changing your image" merely recognizes the
power of perception, but it also implies that there is nothing to
know. Knowing is not open to interpretation. It is
possible to "interpret" meaning, but this is always open to
error because it refers to the perception of meaning. Such
wholly needless complexities are the result of man's attempt to
regard himself as both separated and unseparated at the same time. It
is impossible to undertake a confusion as fundamental as this without
engaging in further confusion.

55 Methodologically,
man's mind has been very creative but, as always occurs when
method and content are separated, it has not been utilized for
anything but an attempt to escape a fundamental and entirely
inescapable impasse. This kind of thinking cannot result in a
creative outcome, although it has resulted in considerable ingenuity.
It is noteworthy, however, that this ingenuity has almost totally
divorced him from knowledge. Knowledge does not require
ingenuity. When we say "the truth shall set you free," we
mean that all this kind of thinking is a waste of time, but that you
are free of the need to engage in it if you are willing to let
it go.

56 Prayer is a way of asking
for something. Prayer is the medium of miracles, but the only
meaningful prayer is for forgiveness because those who have been
forgiven have everything. Once forgiveness has been accepted,
prayer in the usual sense becomes utterly meaningless. Essentially, a
prayer for forgiveness is nothing more than a request that we may be
able to recognize something we already have. In electing to
perceive instead of to know, man placed himself in a position where
he could resemble his Father only by miraculously perceiving.
He has lost the knowledge that he himself is a miracle.
Miraculous creation was his Source and also his real function.

57 "God created
man in His own image and likeness" is correct in meaning, but
the words are open to considerable misinterpretation. This is
avoided, however, if "image" is understood to mean
"thought" and "likeness" is taken as "of a
like quality." God did create the Soul in His own Thought
and of a quality like to His own. There is nothing else.
Perception, on the other hand, is impossible without a belief
in "more" and "less." Perception at every level
involves selectivity and is incapable of organization without it. In
all types of perception, there is a continual process of accepting
and rejecting or organizing and reorganizing, of shifting and
changing focus. Evaluation is an essential part of perception because
judgments must be made for selection.

58 What happens to
perceptions if there are no judgments and there is nothing but
perfect equality? Perception becomes impossible. Truth can only be
known. All of it is equally true, and knowing any part of it
is to know all of it. Only perception involves partial
awareness. Knowledge transcends all the laws which govern
perception because partial knowledge is impossible. It is all one and
has no separate parts. You who are really one with it need but
know yourself, and your knowledge is complete. To know
God's miracle is to know Him.

59 Forgiveness is the healing
of the perception of separation. Correct perception ofeach
other is necessary because minds have willed to see themselves as
separate. Each Soul knows God completely. That is the
miraculous power of the Soul. The fact that each one has this power
completely is a fact that is entirely alien to human thinking, in
which if anyone has everything, there is nothing left.
God's miracles are as total as His Thoughts because they
are His Thoughts.

60 As long as perception
lasts, prayer has a place. Since perception rests on lack, those who
perceive have not totally accepted the Atonement and given themselves
over to truth. Perception is a separated state, and a
perceiver does need healing. Communion, not prayer, is the
natural state of those who know. God and His miracles are
inseparable. How beautiful indeed are the Thoughts of God who live in
His light! Your worth is beyond perception because it is beyond
doubt. Do not perceive yourself in different lights. Know
yourself in the One Light where the miracle that is you is perfectly
clear.

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